GOOGLE ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 2009 RESULTS — Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2009. — “Google had a good quarter given the depth of the recession—while revenues were down quarter over quarter, they grew 6% year over year, thanks to continued strong query growth.

YouTube signs Sony, preps site for studio content — Move over Hotforwords, Lonelygirl15, and all the other YouTube stars. The video site is bringing in more professionally made content and plans to make it a marquee product. — The Internet's largest video site on Thursday announced …

Operation Basement Dad: How 4Chan Could Beat CNN & Ashton Kutcher — While Ashton Kutcher and CNN are trying to be the first to hit 1 million followers on Twitter, Joseph Frieschel, an inconspicuous Australian MD, is quickly catching up. Frieschel only opened his Twitter account last night, but he already has over 200,000 followers.

Video Prank at Domino's Taints Brand — When two Domino's Pizza employees filmed a prank in the restaurant's kitchen, they decided to post it online. In a few days, thanks to the power of social media, they ended up with felony charges, more than a million disgusted viewers, and a major company facing a public relations crisis.

Meet Google's New Global Sales Boss, Nikesh Arora — President of international operations Nikesh Arora — best known for running Google Europe until April — will replace Omid Kordestani as Google's (GOOG) global sales boss, according to a note in the company's quarterly filing.

Ning hits 1 million social networks — It launched just over two years ago. — Ning now has 22 million registered users, about 6.1 million of whom are considered active. Out of the million networks, about a fifth are currently active. — While these numbers are still small compared …

Voting Begins on Governing the Facebook Site — Today, we take the next step in opening our site governance to everyone who uses Facebook with our first user vote. Through an application developed by Wildfire Promotion Builder, you can now vote on which documents you want to serve as the foundation for governing the Facebook site.

Tax-free Internet shopping may be at an end — If a little-known but influential alliance of state politicians, large retailers, and tax collectors have their way, the days of tax-free Internet shopping may be nearly over. — A bill expected to be introduced in the U.S. Congress as early …

Price Hikes Dampened iTunes Sales — Last week was the first week of iTunes's new, steeper pricing on some tracks, and consumers voted with their wallets, according to Billboard. Sales figures from iTunes show that tracks that now sell for $1.29, up from $.99, sold 12.5 percent fewer units …

300,000 Kindle 2s Sold To Date — Amazon's Kindle 2, which first shipped in late February, is selling at roughly double the rate of the first generation device, says a source close to Amazon. Approximately 300,000 of the Kindle 2s have been shipped to date, suggesting Amazon …

Mac vs. PC: What You Don't Get for $699 — A 17-in. PC may cost a lot less than a 17-in. Mac. But you get less, too, including security, multimedia tools, and, some say, satisfaction — I'm a sucker for a well-made TV ad. — Inspired by the Nike (NKE) “Just Do It” and “Air Jordan” …

Cybercriminals create botnet using Mac computers — A piece of malicious software unwittingly shared over a peer-to-peer network in January was the key tool in what security researchers are saying was the first known attempt to create a botnet of Mac computers.

Announcing The TechFellow Awards With Founders Fund — I'm very pleased to announce a new startup investment program today called The TechFellow Awards in partnership with Founders Fund. The goal is to honor technology innovators and stoke new investment in great early stage ideas.

Apple's US Market Share Slips in 1Q 2009 — Gartner has released a preliminary report detailing U.S. and worldwide PC shipments for the first quarter of 2009. The report pegs Apple's U.S. market share in fourth place among vendors at 7.4%, down from 8.0% in the fourth quarter of 2008.